Fortune-telling game



Aug- 15, 1961 w. H. SCHAPER FORTUNE-TELLING GAME Filed July 17, 1959 nited States patent 1 2,996,300 FORTUNE-TELLING GAME William H. Schaper, 2360 Brookri'dge Ave.,

Minneapolis, Minn. A Filed July 17, 1959, Ser. No. 827,782 3 Claims. (Cl. 273-161) This invention relates to games or recreational devices.

An important object of my invention is a recreational device of novel design and construction which is adapted to be employed as a fortune telling device toy randomly provide an answer to a question posed to it.

Still another object is a recreational device having a movable concealed member provided with a plurality of different answers and presenting a single answer to view when at rest, said answers being of a general nature generally applicable to a variety of questions, many of said answers being of a humorous nature or bent so as to provide entertainment for those using it.

Still another object is a recreational device of the class described in which a series of said answers of general nature are provided on a member which is concealed interiorly of a suitable container of a design and conguration suggestive of a fortune tellers ball having a window therein and controllable shutter means therefor, the member carrying said answers being disposed opposite said window to enable the plurality of answers to be exposed to view through said window, said answers successively passing said window and ultimately coming to rest with a single answer being exposed to view.

These and other objects and advantages of my invention will more fully appear from the following description made in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein like reference characters refer to the same or similar parts throughout the several views, and in which:

FIG. l is a side elevational View with portions broken away to expose the broken away portion in vertical section;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view with the upper half of the shell removed;

FIG. 3 is a horizontal section taken on the line 3 3 of FIG. l; and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective View.

Referring to the drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of my invention, my device includes a spherical shell 5 designed to give the appearance of or suggest a fortune tellers crystal ball, the spherical shell 5 being provided with a circular pedestal or stand 6V which in the preferred form shown is of hollow interior and having an inverted dish or concave cross section so as to provide a hollow cavity 7. The top or lid of the stand indicated by 8 provides a flat horizontal surface or base exposed to the interior of the shell 5 with the bottom transverse segment of the sphere 5 removed to provide a circular opening in the bottom thereof, which exposed portion is mounted atop said base portion 8 on an annular upstanding ring or rib 9 provided on the stand 6, which rib or ring supports the sphere which is secured thereto. The ring portion 9 is provided with a suitable opening 10 therein for a purpose hereinafter to be described.

The spherical shell 5 is provided with a cutout portion or opening 11 in the upper half of the wall thereof which provides a window for viewing the interior of said sphere.

The base 8 has depending therefrom and disposed within the hollow interior 7 and centrally thereof a journal member 12 provided with a suitable vertical and axi- V"ire ally disposed cylindrical opening or bore 13 in the lower portion thereof and a larger counters-Unk cylindrical opening 14 communicating with the top of base 8 and coaxial with bore 13 and providing a seat therewithin.

A shutter actuating arm or plate member 15 of elongate rectangular shape rests on the base 8 and is adapted for rotary sliding movement with respect thereto. The arm 15y is provided medially thereof with an opening of a widthor diameter corresponding to the opening or seat 14 and4 is in register therewith. Adjacent one end of said arm 15 a pair of upstanding elongate parallel guide members 16 are provided adjacent the marginal edges of said arm 15 and carried thereon. The opposite end of said arm 15 is attached to an elongate arcuate shutter member 17 having. a radius of curvature similar to but slightly less than the sphere 5 and being concentric therewith, said shutter member 17 being of sufficient length to extend upwardly.into the upper half of the sphere so as to extend above the top of the window 11, said shutter member being of a Widtlr at least slightly larger than the width of said window 11, the shutter member 17 being adapted for limited circumferential movement in response to the movements of the shutter actuating arm 15. Thus, the shutter is adapted for movement into and out of register with the window 11 to selectively open or close the same.

A plunger member or operating lever 18 which is flat andY elongate is disposed so yas to overlie the shutter actuating arm 15 in longitudinal sliding engagement therewith. The outer end of said lever 18 extends through the opening 10 provided in the ring 9 so as to lie outside the sphere 5 andY extends laterally therefrom a suiicient distance to permit ready grasping thereof by the fingers of the operator. The outer end of lever 18 is provided with an upstanding flange or lip 19 for more convenient graspingy of the lever. The lever 18 is disposed between the guide members 16 carried by the shutter actuating arm 15, the marginal edges being in contiguous sliding relation therewith for guiding the longitudinal movement of the lever 18 with respect to the shutter actuating arm 15. The forward portion of the lever 18v is provided with an elongate slot Ztl having a width corresponding to the diameter of the countersunk opening 14. A cylindrical pivot member 21 having a central bore corresponding to the bore of opening 13 and an outer diameter corresponding to that of counter bore 14 is provided, which pivot pin is inserted through the slot 20 and through the central opening of the shutter actuating arm 15 and is snugly seated in the seat provided by the counter bore 14 to provide a common central pivot and retaining member for the arm 15 and lever 1S, said pivot pin 21 having a head portion 22, theV bottom of which extends laterally from the main cylindrical body and overlies the lever 18 which head preferably has a tapered or convex upper surface which provides a supporting or bearing surface for the rotational movement of the spindle member hereinafter to be described.

An elongate upstanding rack member 23 having inwardly facing teeth is carried by the marginal edge of the intermediate portion of said lever arm 18. The rack 23 is parallel to the slot 20 and is disposed opposite the trailing end thereof so as to be disengaged from the pinion member 31 disposed above the leading or forward end of the slot 20 when the operating lever extended position. The lever arm 18 also carries on its upper surface an upstanding pin 24 for anchoring one end of a tension spring 25 thereto, the other endof said spring 18 is in outwardly,

25 being anchored by a correspond-ing pin 26 aflxed t0 the base 8 adjacent the ring opening 10 and slightly offset therefrom. The spring 25 is disposed generally longitudinally of the operating arm 18 and is preferably suiciently tensioned to move the arm 18 outwardly to extended position from a retracted driving position and maintain the same in said extended position.

A shaft or spindle indicated generally by 27 extends upwardly through the centersor vertical axis of the sphere and carries on the upper portion thereof an umbrella shaped member 28. The member 28 is preferably a transverse circular segment of a sphere having a radius of curvature slightly smaller than that of theshutter member 17, the peripheral surface 29 being preferably concentric With the shutter 17 and sphere 5. The peripheral surface 29 has a plurality of indicia or answers 40 printed thereon in series or spaced apart relationV around the entire circumference thereof, said umbrella member being iixedly secured to said shaft 27 so as to be rotatable therewith.

The Flower end of the shaft 27 is provided with a thin elongate cylindrical axle 3! which is inserted or journalled in the bore of the retaining pin 21 and the bore 13 of the journal member 12 in contiguous relation therewith and adapted for free rotational movement therewithin. Immediately above and adjacent the axle 36) the shaft 27 is provided with and driven by a rack driven pinion member 31 mounted coaxially thereof and supported on the head 22 of the pivot pin 2.1, said pinion member having a shank 32 enclosing said shaft for secure engagement therewith.

The upper end of the shaft 27 extending above the umbrella member 28 is an invertedV conical portion 33, the apex of said conical portion 33 being rotatably seated in a suitable socket 34 carried by and depending from the top of the sphere 5 and co-axial with the vertical axis thereof. Y

The base 8 is provided with an upstanding circular seat 35 which carries thereon a plurality of opstanding anchoring pins 36 which in the form shown are arranged or grouped together in rectangular fashion and are adapted to cooperate to anchor one end o-f a resilient brake member 37. The brake member 37 is preferably a thin strip of resilient spring metal, the rear endof which is deformed or looped as at 38 in such fashion as to wind around at least two of the anchoring pins 36 in such fashion as best seen in FIG. 3 so that the anchoring pins are disposed on opposite sides of the brake 37 to securely anchor the same. The forward end of the brake 37 is also provided with a looped portion 39, the height of which is adapted to rest against and between the gear teeth of the pinion 31 so as to provide a light yielding braking pressure thereon.

In operation, the shutter 17 is turned or swung into register with the window 11 so as to close said Window and conceal the answers mounted on the peripheral surface of the umbrella member 23 from view. The operator of the device then poses a question to a second party and after the question has been presented the operator then pushes the plunger or lever 18 inwardly and forwardly with a quick pushing motion to the end Vof its stroke, the length of said stroke being limited by the length of the slot 20. This longitudinal plunging movement of the lever 18 causes the rack 23 to engage the pinion 31 and rotate the same a limited distance. The lever or plunger 18 is then released or pulled and the tensioning spring 25 which has been extended and tensioned by the plunging movement of the lever 1S and/or the pulling force provided by the ngers of the operator causes the lever arm to spring backward quickly moving the rack backwardly and outwardly out of engage- Y ment with the pinion, which rearward movement by the rack and its cooperative engagement with the pinion rotatably drives or causes the pinion 31 and the shaft 27 and the umbrella member 28 to spin or rotate in a clockwise direction as seen in the drawings. Y

- The plunger, upon reaching the end of its rearward or CFI outward stroke causes the rack 23 to disengage itself from the pinion and permit free rotational movement thereof and the members driven thereby. This rotational movement of the pinion causes corresponding rotational movement of the umbrella member through the medium of the interconnecting spindle 27 which causes the answers carried on the peripheral face of the urnbrella member to successively pass or parade past the Window 11. Although the umbrella member may be permitted to decelerate and come to a stop naturally, it is preferable to provide the braking member 37 previously described which yieldingly resists the free rotational movement ofthe pinion and the umbrella member to cause the umbrella member to come to rest in a shorter and more desirable 'length of time. When the umbrella member comes to rest one of the answers printed on the peripheral surface thereof is in register with the window 11, which answer is revealed by swinging the shutter member 17 to open position to open the window 11 by swinging or turning the cooperatively engaged lever 18 Aand shutter actuating arm 15 to the side to assume a position such as indicated by the broken lines of FIG. 3. Y

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, arrangement and proportions of the various parts without departing from the scope of my invention.

What I claim is:

l. A recreational device comprising a generally circular member adapted for rotation about its axis and carrying a circumferentially arranged series of indicia on the outer periphery thereof, a shellrenclosing and concealing said member and having a window therein disposed opposite the indicia carried by said member, a shutter covering said window and adapted for movement into and out of registration therewith to exposeA the indicia to view, a single elongate manually operable operating handle adapted for Vselective longitudinal and swinging movement, means for operatively interconnecting said handle and said membery which means is effective only during one of said movements to cause rotation of said member, and means for operatively interconnecting said handle and said `shutter, saidmeans being effective only during the other of said movementstoV open and close said shutter.

2. A recreational device comprising a pedestal and a spherical housing mounted on and supported by said pedestaha vertical rotatable spindle mounted on said pedestal diametrically of said sphere, an elementV of transverse spherical segmental configuration having a radius of curvature slightly less than that of said housing and mounted transversely of said spindle co-axially thereof and rotatable therewith, the peripheralsurface of said. element carrying a plurality of answer providing indicia disposed in spaced apart series about the circumference thereof, a cut-out portion in said housing opposite said peripheral surface providing a Window for viewing a limited portion thereof, a pinion carried by Vsaid spindle and drivingly securedrthereto, an elongate operating member disposed transversely Vof said spindle and longitudinally and reciprocatinglyY movable with respect theretoV and pivotable thereabourt, one end of said member being disposed outwardly of said sphere for ready grasping and manipulation thereof, rack means carried byrsaid operating member and Vdrivingly engaging and disengaging said pinion in response to ,the longitudinal movement of said operating member to rotate said spindle and indicia carrying element to successively move said indicia past said window, said indicia and the element carrying them ultimately coming to rest to randomly present asingle indicia to view in said window, a shutter controlV arm disposed transversely of said spindle and pivotable'thereabout, a window shutter carriedlbysaid control arm and swingable into and out of registration with said windowin response to the pivotal movementlof said control arm, and means interconnecting said'operating member and said control arm for simult'aneous swinging movement only about said spindle to also being pivotable about said axis for swinging moveopen and close said shutter. ment of the shutter in relation to the window.

3. A recreational device comprising a housing provided References Cited in the me of this patent with a wmdovv, mdlcla carrymg member rotatably 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS mounted W1th1n sald housing for movement past said Window, a swingable shutter -for opening and closing said 716631 Gallagher Dec- 23 1902 1,596,867 Brunaugh Aug. 24, 1926 wmdow, and actuating means for sald member and shut- 2 022 445 V 1 t 1 N 26 1935 ter comprising a plunger type operating handle projecting oge e a OV' from said housing, said handle being shiftable in a radial 10 FOREIGN PATENTS direction in relation to the rotational axis of said indicia 312,983 France Feb 15I 1937 carrying member for rotating said member, said handle 505,593 Italy Dec. 17, 1954 

